Friday, January 11, 2013

We had Ava's 4 month checkup yesterday. She's 76th percentile for weight and 70th for height. She's got a bit of a cold right now, but the doctor said she looks great and seems to be right on track.Clothing: I feel like different brands and different pieces of clothing vary so much that it's kind of all over the place. Still mostly 6m and 3-6m (although most of her pants at this size are too small now). She got some 6-9m clothes for Christmas that she can already wear and we even put her in a 9m onesie and it fit pretty good.Eating: nothing has changed here from last month. Still getting three 4-oz bottles at daycare and eating once in the morning and twice in the evenings. But we have been having some major sleep issues, so she has been eating more at night than before.Sleep - Nighttime: oh boy. Not good. She was doing so well, usually waking up only once (sometimes twice) at night and giving us an 8 or 9 hour stretch. I'm not sure if it was her being sick or the "4 month wakefuls" or a combination of both, but we've had some major sleep regression. Some nights she's waking up every three or four hours, and we've had a few nights of waking up every two hours (she didn't even do that as a newborn). We got the ok from the pediatrician to start sleep training, so we get to dive into that fun world. While I'm not looking forward to hearing her "cry it out," I'm desperate to teach her how to self-soothe and get some better sleep for all of us. He also cautioned me against feeding her too much during the night, which is a bad habit I've gotten into, so we need to work on that. One positive this month: she's sleeping in her crib full time. The transition from bassinet to crib was surprisingly easy, probably because she'd been taking naps in her crib from almost the beginning. Also, we have a good bedtime routine and she goes down pretty easily, usually by 7:00. Now if we can just get her to STAY asleep!Sleep - Naps: still multiple short naps. Mostly 30-45 minutes. Sometimes at daycare she'll only take two naps (I guess there's too many exciting things going on) but at home on the weekends she'll usually take three or four.Illness: I'm sad to have to add this category, but it is something I want to keep track of. First, the RSV, which she had for about 10 days. Now she's battling (what we hope is) a cold again. Runny nose, coughing, congestion, watery eyes. She spiked a bit of a fever last night (her first), but I'm hoping it was from the 4-month immunizations she got yesterday morning and not whatever she's fighting off.Activity: she got a jumperoo for Christmas and she likes standing in it (she doesn't really "jump" in it yet) and she surprised me with how good she is at manipulating the toys and activities on it. She's been in the Bumbo seat this month too, which she seems to like since she can look around. When she's on her playmat, she's more grabby and interactive than ever before. She got lots of toys for Christmas that she's curious about, the favorite being Sophie the Giraffe, which she loves to hold and chew. She's definitely getting better at tummy time and will hold her head up much longer now, although she still doesn't like it and we still need to increase the amount of time she gets each day.Milestones: she laughs! She makes us work for it, but it's the sweetest, sweetest sound. Her daddy was the first one to make her laugh and still has better luck getting her to laugh. And she gave her Aunt Erin some really good laughs over Christmas. She also rolled over, but only once so far, from belly to back. I put her down on the carpet (not on a blanket) in only her diaper and she plonked right on over. She was a little surprised with herself! She's also discovering the power of her hands more and more every day. If she's awake, she's playing with her hands, looking at her hands, putting them in her mouth or grabbing at something.

Happy 4 months Ava Pearce! You are just the sweetest thing and that smile of yours is my favorite thing in the whole world!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Christmas was a doozy this year. Maybe that's why it's already January 8th and I'm just now getting it together enough to blog about it?

First, let me start with our Christmas card, since I never got around to sharing it with you.

I ordered them through Minted and was so pleased with how they turned out. The quality was impressive (super thick paper) and their customer service was great to work with.

I'm not going to lie though, I was not pleased with how Christmas turned out. In fact, it kind of sucked.

First, Lee got the flu two weekends before Christmas, and it took him a good two weeks to fully recover. Then Ava got RSV just days before Christmas, which was so so scary. We were lucky that she never had to be hospitalized, but we did have a few scary nights of labored breathing and she ended up on breathing treatments and a steroid. Then I got it as well. Sick mama + sick baby + dad who's still not 100% = not fun.

Then (yes, there's still more "then's") I had a random medical issue pop up (totally unrelated to the RSV) which landed me in the emergency room on Christmas night and then undergoing surgery three days later. Being out of commission and not being able to care for your child + managing pumping/breastfeeding on top of surgery and recovery = not fun.

Over a span of 13 days, between Ava and myself we had 10 different trips to the doctor's office, ER or hospital.

BUT, in spite of all that, we did still manage to celebrate Christmas and spend time with our families. Just in a much different way than I imagined.

Let's start with Ava's gifts. Santa came to our house a few days early (since we'd be traveling) and he was very good to her.

Her big item was a high chair, accompanied by clothes, books, blankets and a few toys.

We did Christmas Eve with Lee's family, where she posed on her Pa's lawn tractor:

And then with her cousins:

And we opened gifts.

The best family shot we could manage with both me and her not feeling well:

Ava with her Granny and Pa:

On Christmas day we opened gifts with my family and then did lunch and gifts with my dad's side of the family.

Still not feeling well, but trying to make the most of it:

With her Gram:

Intrigued by the tissue paper:

Hand-stitched quilt from her Giga:

And finally, worn out by Christmas!

I don't have to tell you that she was totally spoiled from all sides and got some amazing gifts. And the time we got to spend with everyone was priceless, although I hope we'll be a little less under the weather next time.

We're all feeling much better now, and although our holiday wasn't ideal it made us even more aware of all the things we have to be thankful for: our overall health (you don't fully appreciate your health until something goes wrong with it), a wonderfully supportive family who's there for us in our time of need, and mostly, this beautiful, happy baby girl.

Born and raised in eastern NC (with the accent to prove it), now living in the Triangle. Have a husband who makes me laugh, a dog who thinks she’s human, and a new little one who's training me every day in the art of being a mom. I love entertaining, snapping away with my Nikon, crafting and generally trying to be Martha-like. Take off your shoes and stay awhile, would you?